


Waiting On The Snow To Fall

by DanaEliza



Category: Naruto
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Party, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21918748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanaEliza/pseuds/DanaEliza
Summary: Like every year the Akatsuki group celebrate Christmas Eve together, no matter what. This party feels a bit different though. Itachi notices some things he has never noticed before. Especially how different Deidara feels to him compared to the rest.
Relationships: Deidara/Uchiha Itachi
Comments: 7
Kudos: 84





	Waiting On The Snow To Fall

**Author's Note:**

> I had to share my favourite ship, my ultimate OTP, my biggest love, on Christmas with you all too. It's been a while since I wrote anything for the Naruto fandom, but I couldn't help but do something for them now. 
> 
> Funnily enough no smut in this one. It turned into something sweet for the pair. Hope you enjoy!

_Doesn’t Really Feel Like Christmas At All_

Christmas Eve was always celebrated with friends. A tradition that had crept in years ago as some kind of rebellion against the romantic evenings most spend together. It didn’t matter that two out of the friend group were now dating. They still had to open their doors for their friends to join in for the fun.

Thankfully they had never minded it.

For Itachi it was also a way to get out of the house. Hide away from his prying family that wanted to know if he would be going out with a lady that night. Woo her among the many lights that adorned the streets. It was much easier to be with friends than to be with family in this case.

The walk to his friend’s place was always the last peaceful moment of the day. Itachi relished in that one quiet moment, walking down the sidewalk as the cold air surrounded him. Snow hadn’t fallen yet, but the clouds were dark above him, threatening to spill. With his burgundy scarf tugged high up, he fell into that familiar pace. It was eerily silent around him with no one passing him by on their way to their own Christmas traditions. Animals were quiet, the trees barely moved. It almost felt like a dream he was moving through.

Right until he felt someone walk up beside him.

One look cast down told Itachi enough. Those bright blue eyes, blond hair partially tied up in a ponytail, lips pulled up in a smile, though it didn’t hold its usual confidence.

“Deidara,” Itachi greeted.

“Hey,” Deidara replied softly, his eyes moving up to Itachi’s face for a moment until focusing on the road ahead again.

Itachi braced himself for the flood of words. For Deidara to break the comforting silence with his running mouth, talking about things Itachi could barely keep up with. But it never came. Deidara followed Itachi’s lead and walked on in peaceful silence.

They passed house upon house, littered with many different flickering lights. Some were quite excessive, but Itachi always appreciated the look of it. It gave the world something warm and inviting. Christmas always seemed to break away from the horrible things that happened in their life.

After another block of walking Itachi felt a little weird for not speaking with Deidara. For the air to not be filled with mindless chatter. He looked down at his blond friend, seeing his eyes glazed over with something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Itachi had always been horrible at reading Deidara. There was just something about the guy he never could quite grasp. That energetic flamboyant egotistical nature of the guy. It made Deidara an enigma.

Blue eyes peeked up at him again when Deidara found Itachi staring, an almost invisible eyebrow quirked up. “I know I’m earlier than usual, but you don’t have to look at me like that, un.”

“I apologise,” Itachi quickly replied, turning to face away from the other. “It’s quite out of the ordinary for you to join me here.”

“Yeah, I had to return some stuff and was done quicker than expected, so I took a bus here, un. Didn’t think I’d run into you.”

Only then did Itachi recall that Deidara had broken up with his partner only recently. They hadn’t been together long, but it had lasted longer than any of Deidara’s other relationships. Itachi probably should say something, but would did one say to make these kinds of situations better? Nothing could repair a broken heart. At least it’s what Itachi was told at a young age. Once you love, you can never go back. Itachi wouldn’t quite now. He hadn’t experienced anything like that yet.

Fortunately he did know that Deidara never appreciated his pity.

“Officially ending things on Christmas Eve. Seems quite brutal.”

Deidara snorted. “Tell me about it, un. Only time off the jackass had. Had to come all the way over to drop of his shit. Couldn’t even do me the same courtesy, un.”

“Guess he’s an ex for a reason,” Itachi said, trying for a playful tone.

Seeing a glimpse of a smile on Deidara lips said he had succeeded. “Exactly, un,” Deidara returned. “Though I have to admit that was not the only thing. I came to realise some things about myself and I knew I had to change some things. One of the things being to stop dating the jackass, un.”

Another glance up at his face made Itachi’s heartbeat pick up in speed. Only Deidara had ever managed to get such a reaction out of him. One look and Itachi felt himself growing nervous, fearing what it was that lingered on Deidara’s tongue.

“How about you, un? Heard from Hidan you had a date last week.”

“Business meeting.”

“Ah,” Deidara said. “Must’ve thought she was hot then, un.”

“He always does.”

The air was filled with a soft chuckle, Deidara confirming Itachi’s words with it. How many times Hidan had accused him of seeing someone when he ran into the guy during work hours. It didn’t matter if they were male or female, old or young. Everything went according to Hidan. It was tiring to say the least, and it was Itachi who was often the target of these things.

People were too obsessed with his relationship status. As if it mattered.

The only one who never really seemed to ask, was Deidara. Except for this time. And now he had been fed with lies by Hidan, so it was something Itachi could let slide. It never seemed to matter to Deidara if he was dating someone. They never really spoke about love or anything alike. Itachi never asked how Deidara’s love life was going either. It never occurred to him that perhaps it was something Deidara would want to talk about, but if he did, he never brought it up by himself.

Was it something Deidara didn’t want to share with Itachi?

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, Itachi mulling over Deidara’s reasoning, and Deidara didn’t make the effort to change the subject afterwards either.

At least it was only one block further, soon the dark green door coming into view. A fake light-up snowman was in the yard, showing off how suburban the couple had gotten. It was only a matter of time before it was announced that Konan was pregnant.

The doorbell played some off-tune Christmas song, which made Deidara wince visibly. Itachi agreed that it was not the best choice of entertainment.

The door swung open, revealing a brightly smiling Konan, short purple hair adorned with a red flower that faintly looked like poinsettia.

“You’re the first ones here!” she said happily, opening her arms to pull Deidara into a tight hug, which was eagerly accepted.

Itachi realised that Deidara was never as physical with him. Never moved in for a hug quite like this one, even when he had with all his other friends. Itachi appreciated that Deidara didn’t overstep those lines, because he didn’t like it when people touched him without much warning. Kisame was one to fling an arm around his shoulder for no apparent reason, and Itachi never was able to shake it off.

Even Konan offered him a short hug, arm faintly reaching behind his back as if to hug the air.

It left Itachi staring at Deidara, once more confronted with the fact that Deidara treated him differently than any of their other friends. It didn’t make sense. Not for someone who was as focused on himself as Deidara was. Who sought out his own happiness before ever thinking about someone else’s.

“What, un?”

Deidara’s harsher tone cut through the silence like a knife. Foolishly Itachi had been staring again. He was showing a vulnerable side he rather keep hidden from them all. There were only a few who know everything about him.

“Nothing,” was the only reply the two got from Itachi.

Konan just ignored the awkwardness and led the two towards the living room where Yahiko was setting up some finger food and glasses. Again Itachi was pulled into a hug, this one accompanied by a slap on the back.

“Glad you both could make it,” the man spoke, shooting them wide smiles before glancing back at Konan. “This is everything, right?”

After the couple bickered over all the things they needed to set out, and what should be left in the kitchen, the rest of their friends joined in. The group had once formed during their high school years, and they never quite fell apart. Even if they didn’t see each other as often as they once did.

For some reason Itachi found himself sticking close to Deidara. He sat beside the blond on the couch, their bodies only centimetres apart. Itachi could feel the heat radiating from the other’s body, his laughter filling his mind with a strange fuzziness. Beers were passed around continuously, but Itachi never was very affected by alcohol, so he couldn’t blame that.

The announcement of exchanging their gifts gave Itachi the opportunity to not fret as much about Deidara. It helped ease his mind as he watched the several Secret Santa’s pass around their wrapped gifts. Itachi had pulled Konan’s name, and had given her a new purse he knew she would like. The hug he received told him he was right on the mark.

When a rectangle package was thrust into his face, Itachi stilled. There in Deidara’s hand was an awfully wrapped present, the paper barely lined up, tape not holding onto any of the corners. At least he had added a bow to make things better. The thing Itachi did know was that Deidara had hand wrapped his present, which meant the store couldn’t have done it for him.

“Because I think your place needs a bit more personality, un,” Deidara explained when Itachi took the gift from him.

Frowning down at the box he carefully peeled the paper away from it. Very unnecessary, but Itachi couldn’t help himself. He was biding time, preparing for what could be underneath.

Out he pulled simple framed photos, the matte black border fitting in well with Itachi’s styled apartment. The first photo was a posed moment with his family, made a few years prior when they needed new family photos. According to his mother at least.

The next one was a photo of the last Christmas party where all of them were standing around, laughing at Yahiko who tripped into the frame, unable to make the timed moment the photo was taken. The whole setting looked exactly like he remembered it. That warm feeling of being surrounded by his friends, sharing stupid things that would make for lasting memories. And now he was holding one of them.

The final picture frame made Itachi still completely. This particular photo was taken a few months ago, when they had all gathered on the beach to get some sun hours in. The clouds had quickly chased them out of the water. And while sitting under one of the sunshades, Deidara had pulled him in to take a few selfies.

Seeing himself with this light smile on his lips while Deidara stuck out his tongue at the camera, held something so endearing. He could feel his heart clench at the sight of it.

“Do you like it?” Deidara asked carefully, peeking around his blond bang.

Swallowing heavily he steadied himself a little more before he answered. “Yes,” Itachi said with a strained voice. “It’s perfect.”

“I’m glad,” Deidara returned, a bright smile on his lips.

After that Itachi clung even closer to Deidara. Listened to every word that dripped off those plump lips, even if they were talking about subjects he knew nothing about. He argued with Sasori about art, as per usual, and Itachi sucked it all in. Tried to understand what it was that Deidara loved so much, like Deidara seemed to have done for him.

Dinner passed and many more drinks did too. The party grew quiet by the time everyone had had their fill. Konan and Yahiko had retreated to the kitchen to start the cleaning process. Kakazu’s eyes were trained on his phone, Hidan hissing words at him that he was being a bore. Sasori was mindlessly glancing at the tree while Kisame bothered him with talks about work.

With everyone spread out around the room, Itachi felt the space between himself and Deidara a lot more intimate.

Deidara was lounging back on the couch, sunk deep into the soft cushions. He was looking at the beer bottle in his hand, rolling it around as he let words flitter from his lips in Itachi’s general direction. There wasn’t any importance in what he said, but it all didn’t seem to matter. Even the mindless chatter about old classmates Deidara had run into felt welcoming.

Without much thought Itachi reached for Deidara’s face and brushed the long blond bang away from his eye.

Instantly Deidara looked at him, questioning look on his face. “Are you feeling okay? You’ve been acting odd all day, un.”

The accusation was unexpected and Itachi was not sure what to make of it. This get-together was indeed a different experience than any year before, but Itachi figured he was the only one who had noticed.

Clearly that was not the case seeing Deidara’s reaction.

Itachi slunk back in his seat, pulling back his leg that had been pressing against Deidara’s thigh.

“I’ve been feeling a little off today. I apologise if it has seemed odd,” he admitted. “I’ve just been experiencing some things and realising some things I hadn’t noticed before.”

“I can relate to that,” Deidara hummed, clearly not as fazed by Itachi’s odd behaviour as he appeared to be at first.

Letting his gaze slide down to Deidara’s lap, Itachi watched him peel away at the label. “You mentioned before that you discovered some things about yourself as well,” he said. “What kind of things did you find?”

Deidara jerked his head back up, eyes wide in surprise at the question. “Oh,” he said very smartly. “I, uh, I just figured out what I liked more, and what was better for me, un. What was holding me back. What I really… loved.”

The pause at the end was unexpected. The way Deidara quickly looked away again was too. The other was always so honest, spilling every little detail about himself. Except for the perhaps very personal things. It intrigued Itachi to see his friend hold back like this. It also irritated him that Deidara felt the need to distrust him with information about himself.

“And what was that?” he asked, urging Deidara on to go into detail. Elaborate.

“I don’t know,” Deidara said. “Just stuff. Honestly, you’re the last person I’d share this with, un.”

That admittance was quite cruel. Itachi was completely taken aback by it. Hurt even that Deidara would not share these intimate details with him in particular. He was the last person even. A stranger would be chosen before him. Did this mean others did know? Some of their friends perhaps? Itachi casted a wary look around the room, but found no one paying attention to them.

“Why?”

His tone held a lot more bite than he had intended. He could see Deidara flinch under the word.

“Shit,” Deidara cursed, rubbing a hand over his face. He placed the empty bottle of beer on the table, hovering forward as he continued talking. “Shouldn’t drink this much. Makes me say stupid things, un.” With a sigh he sunk back in his seat, sending a tired look up at Itachi. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea if I tell you, so please just forget about it, un.”

“I don’t understand. Why would it be so bad to tell me?”

Deidara looked almost pained after Itachi’s question, wincing as he turned his gaze away again.

“Okay, fine, shit. Just know that I’m not asking anything of you. It’s just how I’ve been feeling, un.”

Deidara waited on Itachi to nod before he continued.

“I’ve liked you for a long time now. And I mean in a romantic way. It’s one of the reasons why I so desperately wanted to belong here with you all, even if I am a few years younger than most, un. I just wanted to get closer to you,” he explained. “But I discovered it was very one-sided, un. So I backed off and started dating people that weren’t you. It’s just that with every failed relationship I realised more and more than I wasn’t completely over you, and that’s why I broke it off with the jackass. I couldn’t get you out of my head. So that’s what I’ll be working on next year.”

Deidara wringed his hands together, discomfort clear in his body language as he distanced himself from Itachi.

His words had Itachi completely floored. How had he never noticed this? Through all these years he had never seen Deidara look at him in a way that went beyond friendship. But if he looked back now, he could see it, couldn’t he?

The extra interest in his work. The questions about his family. The disregard for his dating life. The way Deidara handled him physically and mentally, never overstepping lines, and taking in account what Itachi preferred.

Everything Deidara had done, was with Itachi in the back of his mind. His needs, his desires. How could Itachi ever had thought Deidara was egotistical?

There was one thing Itachi knew Deidara enjoyed.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t want to spur…”

Before Deidara could even finish his sentence, Itachi had leaned forward and had captured those moving lips in a kiss. It was a quick and unexpected peck, and even Itachi didn’t know what had come over him. But when he saw those bright blue eyes look up at him in surprise, he had to move forward again.

Fervently Deidara returned the touch, sighing into the kiss as he brushed his lips continuously over Itachi’s. It was soft, and sweet, and Itachi hadn’t realised this was what he had needed all these years.

The hollers of his friends were a distraction, but they were all rooting for them as they remained lip locked. None cared for their public display of affection. Not even when Deidara practically crawled in his lap to deepen the kiss further.

As he felt those soft lips claim him, Itachi figured out he had known love all this time. He had simply been too dense to notice.

And when he woke up the next day with Deidara in his arms, and snow coating the sides of the window, Christmas had finally really begun.

**Author's Note:**

> Still love these boys so much... Hope you enjoyed too! 
> 
> And Merry Christmas <3
> 
> Love, Dana


End file.
